Respected Economist Appointed as Huntsman Presidential Visiting Professor at USU

LOGAN, UT – One of the world’s most frequently cited economists has agreed to teach at Utah State University in May 2011.

Miles Kimball, professor of economics at the University of Michigan, will become the second Jon M. Huntsman Presidential Visiting Professor, Dean Douglas D. Anderson announced today.

Kimball is scheduled to give a free public lecture Monday, May 2, from 4–5:30 p.m. in the O.C. Tanner Business Lounge, on the ninth floor of the George S. Eccles Business Building. The lecture, “The Economics of Happiness” will focus on Kimball’s research that shows “how people often intentionally sacrifice happiness for other things they care about and the dynamic way that happiness responds to good and bad news in people's lives,” according to Kimball.

“These two facts connect happiness to economics in new and surprising ways,” he said.

Anderson said he expects Kimball’s visit will benefit both faculty and students.

“Dr. Kimball has done some fascinating research and it is a great coup that we can bring him to the Huntsman School of Business as a visiting professor this year,” Anderson said. “This would not be possible were it not for the vision and support of Mr. Huntsman.”

In 2009, Utah philanthropist Jon M. Huntsman announced he would fund two presidential chairs at USU’s business college that bears his name. Author Stephen R. Covey became the first Jon M. Huntsman Presidential Chair in Leadership in February 2010.

Eytan Sheshinski, the Sir Isaac Wolfson Professor of Public Finance at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, became a Jon M. Huntsman Presidential Visiting Professor in February 2011.

Kimball said he’s looking forward to the visit.

“I’m delighted to be coming to USU,” Kimball said. “I’m hoping to come back many years after this, as well. I think this will be more than a one-shot thing.”

Dr. Kimball is the 106th most cited economist in the world, according to Research Papers in Economics (RePEc). Much of his research focuses on cognitive economics, and his published studies have dealt with subjects such as the correlations between a person’s religion and his or her chosen major.

Kimball graduated with a bachelor’s in economics from Harvard University. He then received a master’s degree in Linguistics at Brigham Young University. In 1987, he graduated with a doctorate in economics from Harvard and won the Wells prize for the best Harvard dissertation in economics.

During his time on campus, Kimball will also teach a half-semester class compressed into a one-week course about cognitive economics.